Exactly one month ago today, Americans watched in horror as Ghana once again played party poopers to the United States, this time in the Round of 16. A 2-1 extra time defeat saw the United States go home early from the FIFA World Cup.
In fifteen days, they take the field again.
This time, the opponent is a nation the United States have only beaten on rare occasions, the team that spoiled their Confederations Cup title hopes, coming back to win 3-2 after going down 2-0 at the half.
Of course, the team I speak of is Brazil.
The United States returns to the occasional friendly schedule following several years and months of preparation for the World Cup, with only the August 10th match and an October 9th date with Poland on the calendar.
The United States will begin preparing most likely early next year for June's CONCACAF Gold Cup, with the winner qualifying for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil. After that, they have a year to prepare for World Cup qualifying for 2014.
The game on the 10th of August is labeled as a friendly.
When you play the likes of Brazil, that word gets thrown out the window.
A friendly is a match with Trinidad and Tobago or Macedonia, where Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, and the rest of the first team get to stay home or with their respective clubs.
When you take on the world's third ranked team, a team that will be going out to win after their quarterfinal exit at the World Cup, you bring the big guns.
Brazil's new boss Mano Menezes is leaving most of the World Cup team out of his first selection. Only four: Thiago Silva, Ramires, Dani Alves, and Robinho remain from the quarterfinalists. However, do not think that that means Brazil are just playing this as a friendly. The Selecao are bringing a very impressive lineup. Many of the players in the squad, eleven of whom play in Europe, are likely to make the cut for the host nation in 2014. Menezes seems to be already exploring, looking for the right players. He definitely has some potential selections in this squad:
Victor (Gremio), Jeferson (Botafogo), Renan (Avai); David Luiz (Benfica), Henrique (Santander), Rever (Atletico Mineiro), Thiago Silva (AC Milan), Rafael (Manchester United), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Andre Santos (Fenerbahce);: Sandro (Internacional), Hernanes (Sao Paulo), Jucilei (Corinthians), Lucas (Liverpool), Ramires (Benfica), Carlos Eduardo (Hoffenheim), Ederson (Lyon), Paulo Henrique Ganso (Santos); Alexandre Pato (AC Milan), Diego Tardelli (Atletico Mineiro), Andre (Santos), Neymar (Santos) Robinho (Santos).
The European players, we all know how talented they are. However, do not underestimate the likes of Victor, Neymar, Hernanes, Jucilei, Ganso, and the rest of the Brazilian league players in this squad. Remember, you don't have to play in Europe to be a superstar or play in a big time league. Go to Brazil and you will see some of the best players and best teams in the world.
The United States, at thirteenth in the world, needs to come out and play to win at the Meadowlands, no doubt about it. We saw some fantastic soccer from the Yanks at the World Cup. Bob Bradley only needs to look to a couple of weaknesses: finishing and defense.
Let's face it, our finishing was not all that spectacular at the World Cup. We scored goals when we needed to, but only to tie and get late wins. When we needed goals to pull away or to get on the board earlier than the eightieth minute, we could not score. Only Robert Green's bonehead goalkeeping allowed us a first half goal. We played come from behind against England, Slovenia, and Ghana. You cannot compete and have this happen. The defense is part to blame, but Altidore and whoever was up front with him, be it Buddle, Gomez, and Findley, need to take some responsibility. Donovan and Dempsey worked hard to put the ball on net and Bradley came up with a crucial goal, but the forwards need to find the target.
Good news for Americans is that Charlie Davies is returning to game situations, having played in all four of Sochaux's friendlies so far this summer. Bradley should definitely give him the nod to play alongside Altidore in two weeks. He could really challenge the defenders back there. It would give him a good test too, going up against Thiago Silva, Marcelo, Dani Alves, and whoever Menezes decides to put alongside Silva in the middle.
Defense, defense, defense, what's to say? Early goals in all but the Algeria game, the only game we manages a clean sheet. They cause themselves to play catch up and it was not effective as it should have been for the US. Granted, there were talks that Onyewu and Bocanegra were not one hundred percent healthy, but there needs to be more discipline on that line. I'm not saying drop those guys, but maybe, as we can use six subs, now would be a good time for Bradley to start giving looks to defenders who may prove better reserves than Spector and Goodson. Edgar Castillo and Omar Gonzalez should both get looks against Brazil. I'd be wary of bringing Jay DeMarit, as he is still currently unattached to a club after being released by Watford (still not sure why a club would just release their captain, especially a solid defender like him) and he has not played since the World Cup.
Midfielder DaMarcus Beasley is in the same boat and should not be considered. Alejandro Bedoya, a 23 year old midfielder, is currently having a great season for Swedish club Orebro SK, who are currently third in the Allsvenskan. He has played in thirteen of the club's sixteen games so far and has produced a goal for the third place side. He has been a vital player since his debut last year.
I'm not saying this is a must win game for the United States, after all, it is only labeled as a friendly. Against Brazil, however, your goal is to win. Not tie, not play hard and lose, win. The United States gets an early taste of what it could look like if they cross paths with Brazil in either 2013 or 2014 at the Confederations and World Cups. I think the midfield is solid and can be left well alone, therefore, I propose this as a potential roster for Bradley to consider for the Brazil game. Remember, this is only my opinion and I'm not saying this is exactly what it will or necessarily should be. I simply think this is a good team to start moving forward and getting a head start on preparation for important stretches coming up for the United States starting in a few months. So without further ado:
Goalkeepers:
Tim Howard (Everton)
Brad Guzan (Aston Villa)
Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Defenders:
Carlos Bocanegra (captain, Saint-Etienne)
Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan)
Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)
Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA)
Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96)
Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles Galaxy)
Edgar Castillo (Tigres U.A.N.L)
Midfielders:
Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)
Clint Dempsey (Fulham)
Michael Bradley (Borussia Monchengladbach)
Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Stuart Holden (Bolton Wanderers)
Jose Torres (Pachuca)
Maurice Edu (Rangers)
Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus)
Alejandro Bedoya (Orebro SK)
Forwards:
Jozy Altidore (Villareal)
Herculez Gomez (Pachuca)
Edson Buddle (Los Angeles Galaxy)
Charlie Davies (Sochaux)
This leads me to my projected starting lineup, rather, my opinion of what the lineup may be. I do not expect many starters to change, only in a couple of spots.
GK- Howard
LB- Bocanegra
CBs- Onyewu, Castillo
RB- Cherundolo
LM- Donovan
CMs- Clark, Bradley
RM- Dempsey
FWs- Altidore, Davies
Castillo and Davies bring some extra speed to the club. It sounds as if Davies stamina is improving and he is returning to positive form. If that is the case, Brazil could have a tough time of keeping him away from the goal.
If the United States comes out and plays strong defense and really piles the pressure on the attack, it could be a great game with the Americans having a chance to win. Otherwise, Mano Menezes is going to have his first win as manager of the world's most celebrated national team
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